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ALTHOUGH DUN DREAMED, they felt more distant, and when he woke he had no headache and felt fresh. After a brief breakfast, they broke camp and headed back out of the strange door and began their trek again.
They went in, then came out of another tunnel and along an uneven surface that felt very high up.
“Watch step, eh?” Jarn said.
They were walking on what felt like curving metal pipes. Dun couldn’t help the uneasy feeling of walking on the ribcage of a giant metal beast. A sudden whoosh of gas jetting somewhere ahead and below them didn’t belie that impression.
Behind him, Tali squeaked. “Gods!”
“What?” Dun said. “You okay?”
“Yeah. That... whatever it is we’re walking on, shifted,” she said.
“Watch step,” Padg said behind them both.
Dun sniggered.
“Shh! It felt like it moved.” Tali spoke more firmly.
“You said,” Padg said.
“I think this place is starting to give everyone the gibbers.” Dun tried to sound reassuring.
“No, it wasn’t that. It jerked like someone moved it.”
“No one is supposed to live here,” Padg said.
“I know what I felt,” Tali said.
The three friends began walking forward again, increasing their stride slightly to catch up with Myrch and Jarn. When they drew near, Myrch and Jarn were already in hushed conversation.
“Your ears play tricks,” Jarn said.
“No,” Myrch said.
“What?” Dun said as they stopped.
“Nothing,” Myrch said. “Shall we get on?”
“Wait!” Jarn said. “Now we must climb, eh? There is rope here, at feet. You climb down, one at a time. You wait till you hear me reach bottom, okay?”
And with that, grunting, he disappeared over the edge of what Dun still thought of as a metal ribcage and they heard regular rustling as he lowered himself, hand over hand, down the rope. The sound became fainter. They waited. The rope went still. Dun shuffled uneasily.
“Quiet!” Myrch hissed. “I’m listening.”
There seemed to be nothing to listen to. The tension stretched out.
“Curse him.” Myrch sounded venomous. There was a rustle as Myrch unshouldered his pack and further noise as he undid straps and fished inside. There was a faint click and a smooth sliding noise, and then a clack. Dun thought it sounded like teeth biting on something metal.
“Dun,” Myrch said through whatever he was evidently holding in his teeth. “Feel the rope as I go down, as soon as my weight goes off it. Follow. Then Tali do the same, then Padg. Quickly now.”
Myrch’s descent was more of a whizz of rope on fabric and Dun heard him all the way down to a soft thud, and then the rope was slack. He eased himself over the edge holding the plant fiber rope and braced himself against the last of the metal ribs. There were two more ribs spilling over the edge, and then nothing. Dun was hanging in midair with only the rope to guide him. His air-sense gave him a feeling of nausea as his brain tried to reconcile the moving world to his unusual motion. Slowly, he waited to stop swinging and began to climb down.
At the bottom, he steadied his wits and his stomach, and then Padg slid down next to him. Last to plop down beside them was Tali.
“Where’s Jarn?” she said unable to feel him close by.
“Gone,” Myrch said.
“What?” Dun said.
“You heard.”
“But where?”
“I don’t know. Just gone,” Myrch said.
Dun noticed patches of damp under him as he slowly shifted foot to foot. “What now?”
“I don’t know,” Myrch said. “I’m thinking.”
“Well, think faster,” Padg said. “I can hear someone coming.”
“Or something,” Tali said.
They waited, ears straining into the cavernous junk filled expanse.
It was the chattering sound of teeth.
“That is not good.”
“Thank you, Dun Obvious,” Padg said.
The sound came to them faintly but distinctly, like a single instrument, performed from far away. An instrument made of bones. Then, slightly louder, the rest of the distant sinister orchestra joined in. The chattering grew louder.
“Where is it coming from?” Myrch said.
“I can’t tell,” Dun said. “There are too many echoes in here.”
“Listen more carefully! Ahead? Behind?”
“Above,” Tali said. “It’s coming from above!”
The noise seemed to get louder all at once.
“Quick!” Myrch said. “Back to the safe room!”
They didn’t need telling twice.
***
AS THE DOOR SLAMMED and the seals hissed into place the terrifying noise was accompanied by a terrible, keening cry.
“What the hells was that noise?” Dun said.
“It’s like they’re predators like they’ve got the scent,” Padg said, edgy.
“No,” Tali said, “there’s more to it than that, I just can’t think.”
“Think about this instead. We are now trapped in here, there seem to be a lot more of them than there are of us,” Myrch said gruffly. “We need a plan to get out. Break out a bit more food and let me have a think.”
They broke out more rations and ate slowly. Padg rustled through his pack for what seemed like an age. Tali disturbed the reverie. “That noise. The cry. I think I understand now.”
“Oh?” Myrch said.
“I think it’s distress, anguish.”
“Go on.”
“I think I might have a plan. I think we need a hostage.”
“Now that is a plan I can get behind,” Myrch said.
